Amusement game apparatus



I Jan. 11, 1949.

H. E. WILLIAMS AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS Filed June 3, 1947 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 .lllllllllill INVENTOR. Harry E. Will/cams, BY %MZ H/s A'rrbmvEx mum" Jan. 11, 1949. I v E,w 1 1 I 2,459,011

AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS I Filed June 5, 19,47 e she ts-sha 2 IN V EN TOR.

. H/s "mm 1949- w H. E. WILLIAMS 459,011

AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS Filed June 5, 1947 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Harry E. Wi/l/ams HIS ATTORNEY.

Jan. 11, 1949. H. E. WILLIAMS 2,459,011

AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS 'Filed June 3, 194? I e Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

Harry E. Wi/fiams m M HIS A 'TTOHNEY.

' Jan. 11, 1949. H. EIWILLIAMS I AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 3, 1947 INVENTOR.

W W m M/M i "1 n w U/ Jan. 11, 1949. H. E. WILLIAMS I AMUSEMENT .GAME APPARATUS 6 Shets-Sheet 6 Filed June 3, 1947 a u w N .a w T h M N U T W 2 T N A I. 5 F. M W m H, Y B

Patented Jan. 11, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,459,011 I AMUSEMENT GAME APPARATUS Harry E. Williams, Chicago, Ill.

Application June 3, 1947, Serial No. 752,135

4 Claims.

into the path of a baseball diamond to simulate the running of the bases of said diamond.

The invention has for its principal object the provision of a construction of the character here inafter described which will afford a maximumdegree of pleasure and amusement during the operation of the game.

Another and equally important object of the invention resides in the provision of a plurality of figures having a common support for rotation through a path simulating a baseball diamond and so arranged whereby each figure is normally concealed to the rear of an opaque portion of the diamond until individually released for simulation of running about the bases provided by the diamond.

Another object of the invention resides in an assembly and arrangement of parts, easy of op eration and economical of manufacture.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an arrangement for successively projecting figures simulating baseball players, into the path of an area simulating abaseball diamond, to simulate the accomplishment of a single, double, triple, or home run hit.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing the ure-carrying structure embodied in the 'inven l tion;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view of the struc 1 ing and rotating mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4,'-

as'viewed from theright thereof spect to each other;

Fig. 12 is a side edge view of the arm embodied in the invention;

Fig; 12'-A is'a suggested form of electric circuit for energizing the"electrical operatingunits embodied in theinvention; f

Fig. 13 is a fragmentarysectional detail view" taken substantially online l3'fl 3 or Fig.

taken substantially on linelA-It of Fig.

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary perspective 'viewof the figurelatch releasing mechanism embodied inthe invention.

fi u -C r i The several objects of my invention areaccom 1 Fig. 14 is a fragmentary sectional detail viw plished bythe preferred form of construction il lustrated in' the accompanying drawings and in which Fig. 1 illustrates an amusement game apparatus in which my invention is embodied. This 25 -game apparatus includes a cabinet ili h aving an Q upright box structure I l within which the mechanism to'be described is adapted to be housed, I

Within the cabinetllland'beneath a trans-,-

parent glass closure I2 is a playboard is having ad appearing thereon a picture simulating a.b.ase-,

ture illustrated in Fig. 3, but showing the figure P j ct g into base-running position; 5 is a side elevational view of th figur Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail view of the fi ure}.

releasing mechanism illustrated in Fig. 7, but showing the parts thereof in different positions;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail view similar to t Fig. 8, but showing the figure in tion;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the figure-carry projected posiball "diamond l2. ,Balls are pr0 9 ed ontl'iis diamondin a manner well-known in the art and by means: not embodying this present invention. Thismechaism, however, includes an 'outlet open-. 'ing in the playboard i 3 normally closed -by-a,.

spring flap [4. .As the balls are projectedfrom beneath this flap l4 ontothe playingfield of; the

playboard l3. a s'uitablebat l5 is manim latedbyv means of, a plunger it to projectthe, balls toward the upper end of the playboard for entrance into one of several stalls llfirorh whence theballs are adapted to rollover certaincontrol switchesm. (not shown) which control the operation ofthe mechanism to be presently described.

tangularpanel member It provided with a transparent area 19 simulatingfthe path of a base- I ball diamond D providing Firs, Second, and a Third bases, 2|, 22, land 23, respectively, and

Home plate 24.. This. diamond D provides a medial area which is substantially opaque so that when figures 26 are in the position shown at The upright cabinet I I has a substantially rec- C, they will be concealed from the view of the play r. 7 i i This present invention relates tothe mechanism for projecting the players 26 from concealed position tothe rear of the opaque area 25. to...a. position within the path 20, together with means.

for rotating the figures to simulate the running of thebases. In this connection there is mounted within the cabinet l I to the rear of the panel IS a mounting plate M (Fig. 5) which supports the mechanism for rotating and projecting the figures upon a ne -ii pith? eball depend t r reasons heteirlhefoie stated. This mechanism comprises motor 21 connected incii'cuit with a suitable source of electric energy. The motor includes a gear 28 mounted on the armature shaft 29 of the motor and operatively meshingwith intermediate gear 30 mounted upon a shaft 3}, which shaft 3| is provided with a polite '32 Hiseratively meshing with a driving gear 33 mounted upon a shaft 34.

This shaft 34 has one gndportion jouiiiaiieii in a plate 35 supported from the frame 36 of a c orrz Lbr.shacerfblqckszfl; The shaft '34. pro; jects forwardly throught the =mounting plate"M, and securcd to this shaft 3Aris a;di sc 38 having for ad in the peripheraledgeathereof radially ispo ed Yr$h l d.. 19l i;l 8S 3.9...(Fies and 11') npac m apen for limited freerotat-ion mounted on the sha ftjigl for limited independent rotatiorpwith respect eretg; "I hi sbu shlh'g His it. .r.e "l d; ei0.i a xsuitab manner and ineifermedin .i i ery tion 14.4 whi h ormedjin. a d c c. may a; t heifloat e y t ..H9 b. .iQrl. .mi Ld .-P.-Thc. .bush. ne-4 h" s an'outer reduced portion '41 adapted tg proje hrough an opening 48 and be secured to a utel imtraele lr. i cos h lls. 4 l ha -a z ssiu Preheat n at s. Q ni e opening 5 att din REYQWLm Vt w tobe deat. ..,.to claim finge 1. 5 released from latche e a et to enient by the action of the lattch pngegse, it is ;ing 80, formed in the plate M (Fig. 10).

in a V-shaped notch 68 formed in an arm 89. of which there are several, provided by the disc 46 in radial relation with respect to each other. The arm Q9 If' ig. l2 comprisesan angled end portion 70 corinectedas at '7 I in any suitable manner to an extension 12 carrying a stud 13 to which the end portion 63 of the spring 62 is connected. Opposite this stud 73 is a trip pin l4.

Qn the plate M (Fig. 15) is arranged a trip plate which is adapted to be engaged by the pin '5! carried by the latch finger 56, whereby upon engagement o f th e pin 5? with the trip plate 15,

the latch linger 56 will be pivoted in a direction to disengage the latch head 58 from the end portion 59 of the arm 60, whereby to permit the arm Bil :to be pivoted under the action of the spring 62 in :a direction to dispose the figure 26 into concealed position behind the opaque area 25 from a position within the path 28 of the baseball diamon'd. The mechanism for projecting the figure 26 from concealed position behind the. opaque area 25 toaposition within the path 20, in its preferred form of vconstruction includes (Figs. Band 13) a "plate 16 extending laterally from the mounting plate M and from an arm ll, of which it is formed as a part. ThlS EI'l'l'l-TT is pivotally connected as at T8, to the plate M and carries a connecting link 19 which'operates in an open- This link. 'l9 connects thearrn TI to the solenoid rod 8! ot an electro-magnetic coil 82. The plate 76 hasponnected thereto one endportion of a spring 83, thqopposite endportion of the spring 83 being connected tothe trip plate (Fig.5).

The arrangement is such that each time that the electromagnetic coil 32 is energized, the arm Tl will be pivoted tp bear down upon the pin M, whereby to piyot the arm fill against the action of the spring 52 9 d spose the end 59 of thearrn 6D in latched engagement with the latch head 58, whereupon uponsuch engagement and'as long asthe arm 60 is in this latched engagement the figure gli will be positioned in the path 29 in full view of the operator olj the game. i

Means is provided for simultaneously pivoting all figures. 26 which'are disposed in thepath zll to a pqsition behind the opaque area 25 of the panel i8. This is accomplished by a trip finger 84 (.Ei gs li, 1Q, 14) formed as an integral part of a plfateflfi pivoted to the mounting plate M as at 85, the pivotal movement of which plate is under Itheaction ofa spring 8'! having one end portion connected to the trip finger Bias at 88, and an opposite end portion as at 89 to the mounting plate M. p

I'his plate carries ,..a connecting link Slopera 1' in an opening =50}. formed in the plate M. This connecting link 90 connects the plate 35 with thesolenoid rod SI of an electromagnetic coil: 92 -mountedln any convenient manner to the rear of the mounting plate M. V

Ipconnection with thegame apparatus, there may be employed a suitable score circuit which may include a control switch S (Fig. 6) having a feather 'wire 93 which is adapted to he engaged by the angled portion 1B of the arm 60. I

Within runways (notshown) located beneath the p m .12 and which have communicationwith the stalls 1'! for the reception of the balls from the stallsgfl arearranged ball switches H13, I04, I05. and which are adapted to be engaged by balls raveling y through these runways. These switches are arranged in the electric circuit in the manner diagrammatically illustrated'i'n Fig.

I2A, and these switches be termed First base, Second-base,--'Ihird base, and Home run control switches.

Adjacent these switches and adapted to be first engaged by the ball before the ball engages these switches are switches I03a, I 040, I050, and

1&1. p

The circuit diagrammatically illustrated in Fig.

I 2A is one of many circuit arrangements whichv I may be employed. In the zpresentinstance, the "First base, Second base, "Third base and Home run switches I03, I04, I05, I06, respectively, each control acircuit control device I031), I041), I051), and I061), in the form of an electromagnetic coil. These coils in turn acontrol and 92. r

For purposes of illustration I have I01, and for the purpose ofillustration thiscoin controlled switch I01 includes a coin slidel02 and a suitable timing device I08 (diagrammatically illustrated and of a well-known construc-, tion) which times the duration of operation .of

the

motor 21 and insulated therefrom are commutators I03d, I04d, I05d, and MM, each comprising an insulated disc F and a contact brush E adapted when not in contact with the insulation insertof the disc to contact the disc to complete a circuit to the electromagnetic devices I03b, I 04b, I05b and I06b.

is closed, with the exception of thenumber of men projected from behind the opaque portion 25 into the path and the periodof duration of the operation of the motor 21, it is only neces- I with the end potrion 5c of the arm 60 in latched; engagement with the latch head 58. Continued rolling movement of the ball engages the switch I03 to set up a circuit to the coil I03b. When energized, this coil I03b will close switch I030 whereby to set up a circuit to the motor 21 which, when energized, rotates the projected figure along the patch 20 to the First base position of the diamond.

As the motor initially rotates by the closing of the switch I03, the brush E of the commutator I03d will move into contact with the dis-c F, and this will shunt the circuit through the disc F to the coil I03b whereby to retain the switch I030 closed notwithstanding the opening of the switch I03 by the passing of the ball therefrom. The motor will continue to operate until the brush E of the disc F engages the next insulated portion carried by the disc F, whereupon the circuit to the coil I03b will be broken and "the motor cease to operate.

For the purposes of illustrating the operation of the device, let it be assumed that the player has accomplished only a one-base hit and that the timing device I08 is now moving the arm I09 shown this circuit controlled by a coin controlled switch:

- 4 185 The device operates in the following manner: As the operation is substantially the same whenany one of the switches I03, I04; I05, I05

12-A, fromicontact with the contact plate IIO ontothe contact plate .I I0. When the arm I09 contacts'the plate H0", circuitis set upin the 5 :gcoil 92 whereupon when this coil 92 is energized it will pivot .the plate 85 in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed in'Fig. 6, to position the arm into the path of movement of the arms '69 of the disc 45. -This takes place before the motor t-1:21 has ceased to operate. As the arm 84 obstructs the rotation ofthe-disc 40, the continued rotation of the disc 49 will cause the edge 68 of the V-shaped notches of the arms 00 to bear against the pin 51" whereby to release the latched ldz engagement between the arm 60 and the latch switches I030, I040, I050, and I060 in turn controlling the circuit to the motor 21. In this circuit are also interposed the electric coils 82 l head 58 whereupon the arm 00 or such arms as are in projected position will pivot to a position to the rear of the opaque 'area25 under action of the spring 62.

If one of the figures 26 should be projected at "the position opposite the third base 23 and the disc; 49 is caused to rotate, by virtue of the closing of one of the switches I03, I00, I05, I00, the figure is moved to a position to the rear of '25,; the opaque area 25 by engagement of the pin '5'! with the trip plate I5 whereupon the latch head maybe pivoted to release the latched engagement of the end portion'50 with the arm 00 and permit the arm to be pivoted under the aq action of the spring 62. 1 I

At the completion of each rotation of the shaft ttpwiththe disc assemblies thereon, it is desirable that the figures be in their respective positions-asshown in Fig. 10. This is accomplished loy engagement ofan indexing finger 9! in the slot 43 of the disc 42. This indexing finger 0'! is form-ed asan integral part of a plate 00 pivotallyconnected as at 99 to the mounting plate M and normally urge-d toward the disc by a spring The arrangement is such that as the finger 9! engages an adjacent slot 43,,it will, by virtue of engagement of the tapered edges IilI of the notchesv 39-formed in the disc 38, rotate the disc M2 slightly in advance of the disc 38 whereby at all times to position the figures 23 in their proper starting positions. When the motor 21 isener gized for rotation, an edge of the adjacent notch 39;wil1 ,bear upon the indexing finger .9! and .-:pivot this finger 9] to disengage the end thereof from the adjacent slotiIS. Figures which are projected. into the. path 20 and as they move from ffthird base'in adirection toward home plate, will be positioned to the rear of the opaque area 25 by virtue of the engagement of the pins 51 with the trip plate I5, which engagement between these pins and the plate I5 releases the arms from latched engagement with the latch heads 58.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into efi'ect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of constructionset forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A mechanism for releasably supporting a rotatable figure simulating a baseball player for movement along the path of a member simulating a baseball diamond having an opaque area,- compris'iiig a rotatahie disc "member; nrans dor'irotaitingsaid disc member, am having one "end portion 'pivotally connected to said-disc member; a fig'ure' .pivotally supported, at the opposite end portion of the arm, a latch member vip'ivotally carried by the disc member and *havinga latch head' adapted to engage the pivoted 'e'nd portion of said arm, spring means'fm releasably'holding said arm in latched'en'gagementwith said litch head with said figure projected in :the path "of diamond, arid means fdr reieasablyihoving said armt o dispose the latch head ffon'matcifed engagement with said arm to permit-said a'rm to pivdt under the action of saidspringfmeahs frdm position within said path 'to' a positien' tothe -rear of said opaque area.

2. A mechanism for rele'asabiy supporting a rotatabie figure Siifiulafingia b'asehali piayer for movement along the path of a membr-siinui'ating a baseball diamond havingaii'opaque fared, comprising a rotatable 'dis'c member haiiing' a radially exte'nding arm, means forrotating "said disc *miribe'r, arm having one end portion pivotally connected 'to said radially "extending arm, a figure pivotaliy'supporte'd at the opposite end portion of "said second naiiied "arm, a latch ing arm andhaviii'g-a latch head aldaijtd to engage the p'ivbted endpoil'tion of said secendnamed arm, spring means for relcas'ably holdiiig said'second-named arrfi in latched "erigagei'nen't with said latch head with 'sai'd figiiie pibj'iited in the path of'said diamond, and'r'fie'ans 'fo'i re= leasabiy moving "said second-ma med and to dispose the 'i'atch Head from latched ''riggfi'ibht with said second-named arm tWpYmi'tsaid arri'i to pivot under the action of "said 'spriiig mass from i a position Within "said path to "a besides to the rear of said opaque area.

3. An apparatus of the class described com; prising a rotatable shaft, a disc fixed "to "said shaft for rotation therewith, a use assembly on said'shaft ad'lbted for limited fdtatififid'lfitive to "said "shaft, said assembly *cdi'riiiiisih we discs keyed together for simultaneous rotanenupon the shaft and a third "disefiddtirig ly s p ported. by the-shaft and keyed fdiiiin'itedfie two discs at the cotiipletion of their rotation thro'ugh' a pi'deteriiiihed are whereby to adjustsaid first-named disc and said disc assembly in" a position with respect to each other whereby to positiiifi saie figures in a erede'terminee position imwith respect tothe'shaft at the pemmetion of rdteitioirof saidshaft through said predetermined arc;

apparatus of the 'cla'ss'des'crihe'd cc'r'r prising a; rotatablsl iaft, a 'disc'fix'ed to said shaft 15:. fer-rotation therewith, a disc assembly on said shaft-adapted foi iiniited rotation relative to said shaft, said "assembly'ompr'ising two discs keyed together for simultaneous rotation lipozi the shaft and a third disc fioatingly supported by the m shaft aliiti k'eydfor liriiited free rotation relative to sa-idtWU discs; means for keying said disc assemblyttj saiiffii'st mhtiohd ease fdi limited free rotation relative tram-anemia pi'oj'e'cted position with respect to said one of said two discs, means for projectihg said figures fromsaid'iirie'df said two discs and meaiis adapted to iiga the first-flamed disc uwsrandthe fother 'of'thdis'cs of said two discs at the compi'e'tion of their rotation through a predetermind arcwhereby'td adjust said first iiamed disc'ar'id said-disc assembly in a position with respect means other Wheiby to position said 'i-gg itfigures in a predetermined position v'vith re'slfiei t to'the 'sha t-at'the: 'onibletioii' 6f iet'ation er said snefti hieug isaia predetermined are, said 1 a'stnamed-teases ii'tiuumg a spriterged decent, a mshapes notch "in 's'aidjfii'st-named disc, and a bei'rig'adapt'ed tb engage in said notch and said slot. H I

HARRY E. WILLIAMS.

'TREFERENCES ol ri o file of this ,Qpet'ent:

.ZIU-NI'I'ED TSTATES PATENTS The ibnewme references are tr record in the said first disc, figures" sinidldtiiig "eases-an players "pivotally carried by \:%on' 6f" 'saiii twd di'sds' "alhd adapted iof'movemeiit r50 Na'rrie 7 Date Ill-Q3355? Hertm et a1 ug. 1, 1916. iaettflc Allah July 17, I934 

